State attorney’s office explains decision to drop charges against former UF QB Jalen Kitna

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB/AP) - A spokesperson for the 8th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office explained the decision to offer a plea deal to a former Florida quarterback facing felony child porn charges.

The Gainesville Police Department officers arrested Jalen Kitna on Nov. 30, 2022, was arrested on two counts of distribution of child porn and three counts of possession.

Police said Kitna shared two images of young girls being sexually abused via a social media platform. Officers searched Kitna’s phone and found three more images of two nude young girls in a shower — photos that had been saved to Kitna’s phone a year earlier. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.

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“This was not the case of somebody storing images of no you have 70, 80, 90 images and pictures,” explained Chief Investigator Darry Lloyd. “This was anything like that this is why the investigation was really important and because you have every device, imagine folks having their cell phone and computers. And they have tons of pictures.”

Lloyd explained to TV20 that they used a legal and medical standard to determine the severity of the images.

Based on that standard, the three images were determined to be post-pubescent and not necessarily illegal. The fourth image they determined had no sexual context and no criminal violation.

However, the police report described Kitna had a Discord account that shared an image of a pre-pubescent girl engaging in sexual contact with an adult.

Lloyd says there was a psychosexual examination of the defendant, and nothing abnormal was found. According to the police report, Kitna did tell investigators before his arrest he struggled with controlling his sexual interests.

“We can say, is it normal for a 19-year-old to look at a 16-year-old,” said Lloyd. “How do you determine the age range that is the question you have.”

Instead of felony charges, Kitna instead pleaded no contest to two counts of disorderly conduct, second-degree misdemeanors.

“What we’ve got here today is a result that’s fair, and the right result,” Kitna’s attorney, Ron Kozlowski told the Orlando Sentinel following the verdict. “Obviously the state agrees, and we feel good about that. This is going give Jalen an opportunity to move on to the next step, whatever that is.”

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